The Quest for Revenge
by AgentRez
Summary: My ideas for season 6...also a JackAudrey story. Spoilers for all of season 5. Episode 2, Segment 2 now up.
1. Prequel

The prequel starts out 12 hours after the end of Day 5. Enjoy and if you get a chance please review.**  
**

**HOPE MEMORIAL HOSPITAL - 07:00:00 PM**

SECRETARY OF DEFENSE JAMES HELLER is sitting up in his hospital bed talking to Audrey on the phone.

"I don't understand…he just disappeared?"

"I don't know…" Audrey replies tearfully. "He got a phone call from his daughter…or at least, that's what someone told him…a few minutes later I went in to check on him and he was gone."

"Is it possible he could have escaped?" her father asks. "I understand he made a deal with Logan yesterday that he would disappear again when this was all over. Is it possible he may have still felt obligated to honor that deal in spite of everything?"

"No, that's not it," she insists. "He…he promised me he'd be right back. He wouldn't make a promise he didn't intend to keep…not to me."

Heller sighs, knowing she is probably right.

"Alright, sweetheart, I'll make some calls and see what I can find out. Are you still at CTU?"

"Yeah, I'm working with Chloe and Bill to try to find Jack."

"Alright, they said they needed to run more tests, but I'll get over there as soon as I can."

"Okay…I'll see you soon," she says, trying to keep from breaking down completely.

"I love you, sweetheart."

"I love you too, Dad."

As Heller hangs up, his assistant, SCOTT BOREN, enters the room.

"Mr. Secretary, I'm sorry to disturb you, but I have Charles Logan on the phone for you," Scott says.

Heller is surprised.

"What does he want?"

"I don't know, sir…he said it's private," Scott replies.

"Alright, give me the phone."

Scott hands him the phone and leaves the room.

"Charles," Heller says coolly.

"You're probably wondering why I'm calling," Logan begins.

"No, I have a pretty good idea," Heller says impatiently.

"First of all, I wanted to apologize for last night."

"What, for having your men try to kill me?"

"I never instructed them to do that," Logan insists.

"Yeah, yeah…and I'm sure you never told your henchmen to frame my daughter so that CTU would subject her to a medical interrogation either, right? Let's just cut to the chase...what do you want?"

"The Attorney General and I agree that it would not be in the best interests of this country for me to go through a lengthy and public trial…"

"What, so you're going to cut some kind of a deal to get off in exchange for going quietly? And you want to make sure that I'm going to keep quiet about it?"

"James, I know that you agree it's in the best interests of this country. If you didn't you wouldn't have come to me last night to try to resolve this quietly."

"That was before your henchman practically sliced off my daughter's arm! For Christ's sake, Charles, she nearly bled to death!"

"James, I understand that you're angry, and I don't blame you…"

"Spare me the appeal to patriotism, Charles," Heller snaps. "You had your chance to resolve this quietly last night..."

"Alright, alright," Logan says. "I know you've been through a lot, and I supposed it's only natural that you can't get past your anger at the moment in order to see what's best for this country. But before you schedule a press conference, I'm sure you're wondering what's going on with Jack Bauer, are you not?"

"How the hell could you…" Heller begins. Anger flashes through his eyes as he puts the pieces together.

"Alright, I'm listening."

**CTU – TWELVE HOURS LATER**

Audrey is on the phone with a navy admiral. With information that Charles Logan gave her father, they were able to locate the ship Jack is on, and the Navy is preparing to storm the ship after flagging it with a distress signal in hopes that that will enable them to peacefully engage.

"Admiral, how far out are your men?" she asks.

"Within 10 miles…they should be able to put out the signal as soon as they can come into plain site."

"Chloe, did you reposition the satellite?" Audrey asks.

"Yeah, I should have it up any minute," Chloe replies.

"Admiral, is the distressed vehicle disguised?" Audrey asks over the phone.

"Yes. From the ship alone the Chinese won't know it's an American naval vessel. But they will be on the lookout for interference, and they may not respond to the signal."

"What happens if they don't respond to the signal? What's your contingency plan?" she inquires.

"We're going to do everything we can to get him off that ship safely, ma'am. But we're going to have to stop that ship from reaching China by any means necessary," the admiral explains.

Audrey sighs, knowing full well the implications of that statement.

"I…I understand," she says shakily.

**CHINESE VESSEL – LOWER LEVEL**

JACK BAUER is tied to the bottom of the ship face down, his face all bloody. With his legs, he is slowly making progress loosening a plank of wood. With a hard kick, he eventually yanks it loose, then begins the painstaking task of moving the plank to within reach. After a few kicks, he strains his arms as far as they will go in a position that looks painful, missing a few times until he is able to move the wood to within reach of his hands. He then struggles to rub the plank of wood against the wood poll to which he is tied, with the goal of igniting a fire. The process is painstaking, as being handcuffed limits his ability to rub the two pieces of wood consistently, and for every time he manages to successfully rub his piece against the pole he misses two other times.

He stops short and hides the wood as he hears and we see DENG approach.

**BACK AT CTU**

"Alright, I've got a live feed," Chloe announces.

She puts it up on the big screen. Audrey, Bill, and Morris gather around. Audrey flinches when she sees the ship.

On Audrey's screen, the Admiral speaks through the video messaging system. Audrey runs back to her computer to talk to him.

ON SCREEN, an unlabeled sailboat appears to be having a problem with its sail. The ship tosses around violently as the crewmen appear to scramble to fix the sail. When they are unable to fix the problem, an Asian "fisherman" on board waves a distress signal.

EXPAND TO FULL as the distress signal is seen from the deck of the Chinese vessel.

"Admiral, we have an SOS from what looks like a civilian sailboat," the ship captain says.

"It is a trap. It's the Americans. Do not engage," the admiral orders.

"It is just a sailboat. The captain looks like one of our own," the captain says.

"Of course. That is what they want us to think," the admiral replies.

"What if we are wrong? We can't ignore a cry for help from one of our own. And even if you are right, if we ignore a distressed vessel, the Americans will know this is the ship. We can't take the risk that the Americans will attack."

The two men continue to argue as the captain begins to steer the ship toward the distressed sailboat, which continues to thrash around violently as its crew scrambles to stay afloat without the sail.

Back at CTU, everyone watches hopefully as the Chinese vessel appears to take the bait and starts moving toward the "distressed sailboat".

"Come on…that's it," Morris says, acting as if he is coaxing the ship in the right direction.

Chloe gives him a LOOK.

"Something's wrong," Audrey says nervously. "Why would they take the bait? It seems too easy."

"They don't have a choice," Bill explains. "They must know we're onto them. If they ignore the distressed ship, it'll give us a confirmation that Jack's on board. They can't risk the chance that we'll take out the ship covertly."

Audrey nods but doesn't seem convinced.

SPLIT SCREEN shows Audrey biting her nails nervously and Jack continuing to struggle with the plank of wood.

Behind Jack is a CAN OF OIL, which he is attempting to kick.

Audrey stares up at the screen nervously, along with Chloe, Morris and Bill.

ON THE SCREEN, the Chinese vessel edges closer to the navy sailboat.

Suddenly, a LOUD NOISE is heard, and the ship instantly goes UP IN FLAMES.

Everyone gasps.

"Admiral, what's going on?" Audrey asks shakily.

"I don't know, ma'am…we're seeing the same thing you're seeing."

"Why is the sailboat moving further away? Tell them to do something!" she demands.

"They're not equipped to put out what looks like an oil-induced fire, ma'am. They need to get to safety," the admiral explains.

"You can't just leave him there!"

"I'm sending two vessels designed for maritime fire intervention as well as some search and rescue teams. They should be on site within ten minutes."

"Ten minutes? That's way too long! Are you out of your mind?" Audrey cries.

Bill sees that she is starting to behave irrationally, and he approaches her cautiously.

"Audrey," Bill says calmly.

He gently pries the headset she is wearing to talk to the admiral off of her and signals to another CTU employee to come take over.

Morris grips Chloe's arm reassuringly. Chloe is too shell-shocked to push him away.

"I don't understand," Chloe says numbly. "Why would the Chinese blow up the ship if they wanted to use Jack as leverage?"

Bill glances hesitantly at Audrey, who is willing him not to state the obvious.

"The Chinese wouldn't," he says softly.

Audrey shakes her head defiantly.

"NO! Don't say it! Please, just don't say it?" she begs. Her tone changes from defiant to desperate as she breaks down and starts to cry hysterically. Bill gently coaxes her away from the room, her eyes fixated on the burning ship that remains on the screen.

END WITH a blurry shot of the screen, which Chloe and Morris are still watching with disbelief, as seen through Audrey's tears.

**OUTSIDE THE RUSSELL SENATE BUILDING – ONE MONTH LATER**

Audrey is walking with a Senator outside the Russell Senate Office building, two Secret Service agents in toe.

On a nearby street corner, a young Asian woman is passing out leaflets.

"I'm sympathetic to your cause, I really am, but you have to understand…"

Audrey is offended by his choice of words.

"My cause? That's what you think this is?" she asks indignantly, looking at the senator with disbelief.

"I'm sorry, maybe I used the wrong word. I'm not trying to imply that..." the senator stumbles. Audrey cuts him off, looking him square in the eye.

"I watched the man I love kill himself because he had no way out. He couldn't have been put in that position without the help of someone inside our government, and I am going to find out how the Chinese were tipped off if it's the last thing I do. So cooperate with me or don't cooperate with me, but at least have the decency to take me seriously."

"I'm sorry," the senator apologizes. "I know you're serious about this, but what you're asking me to do could be very dangerous. Our relations with China are fragile enough as it is. An investigation will open up a can of worms that could end up implicating other people in the consul's death, not to mention risking exposure of classified information. A lot of people could be put at risk if this goes public. Surely there's something else I can do for you, some other way we can resolve this."

"If you think I can be placated or bought you're mistaken. There will be an investigation with or without your help," she says icily.

As they continue to argue, the Asian woman approaches with leaflets. Secret Service starts to intervene but Audrey waves them away, clearly intrigued by the flyer.

A CLOSE UP reveals that it is a pamphlet detailing alleged Chinese human rights violations.

A little piece of paper falls out of the pamphlet, and as Audrey bends down to pick it up she stops DEAD IN HER TRACKS.

We do not see what she picked up, but we see the terrified look on her face. The camera rotates to show the world spinning for Audrey as she digests the meaning of whatever she just saw.


	2. Episode 1 Segment 1

_This is the first part of the actual series, which takes place about a month after the prequel, 2 months after season 5. It's kind of a hybrid between screenplay and prose format because I am trying to write it in prose since that's what people seem to prefer, but my natural inclination is to write it like a screenplay for an actual episode, so please bear with me on that._

The following takes place between 1 PM and 2 PM EST/1 AM and 2 AM Chinese Standard Time/2 AM and 3 AM Korean Standard Time/10 AM and 11 AM PST

**UNDERGROUND PARKING GARAGE - WEIHEI AIRPORT, CHINA - 1:00:03 AM Local Time**

A tall, thin man of Asian descent gets out of a long black limousine. He is met by a shorter Asian man, who approaches cautiously.

"Do you have the package?" the second man asks. The first man nods.

"Did you open it?"

"The first rule of the business is never to open the package," the first man responds.

"Very good," the shorter man says curtly, and together they pull a long duffel bag out of the back of the limousine and load it onto a helicopter. The short man takes a much smaller package from the pilot's seat of the plane and hands it to the transporter.

The transporter briefly opens the case to reveal stacks of large bills.

The two men nod curtly and part ways.

The garage is shown from the outside as it is rocked by a sudden EXPLOSION.

**AIR FORCE ONE - 02:03:08 AM Local Time**

PRESIDENT HAL GARDNER is sitting in his on-flight office looking over a stack of papers. He looks up when MIKE NOVICK enters the room.

"We'll be on the ground in less than an hour, sir," Mike informs him.

"Did you talk to Jim?" Gardner asks.

"Yes, sir."

From the look on Mike's face Gardner can tell the news is not good.

"And?" he prompts.

"And he said exactly what we knew he was going to say. His daughter hasn't spoken to him since the day you announced his nomination. He doesn't have any control over what she does anymore."

"Can he at least try to talk to her?"

"He said if he does that it'll only make her more determined."

"Then have Secret Service come up with a security-related reason to keep her from going to the embassy."

Mike sighs.

"With all due respect, sir, I'm not sure that's the right way to handle this. If you do that, it will be obvious that we were trying to suppress what she wanted to say."

"I don't care if we offend the ACLU! She is going to undermine the negotiations if she does this!"

"Not necessarily," Mike says. "If anything, this could play to our advantage."

"What do you mean?"

"We're trying to send a message to the Chinese about free speech. What better way to do that than to let the Vice President's daughter publicly speak out against an agreement her father has been pivotal in negotiating."

Gardner sighs.

"I don't get it. I first met his daughter when she was a bright-eyed young legislative assistant for House Armed Services. She used to worship her father back then. What happened?"

"A lot has changed since then, sir," Novak says with a sigh. "A lot has changed."

**CHINESE PRISON - LOCATION UNKNOWN**

JACK BAUER is chained to the ground face up. A Chinese prison guard slaps a hot iron across his bare chest, causing him to scream in pain.

Off-screen, AUDREY RAINES gasps with horror.

"Please, stop it," she begs tearfully.

"This can end whenever you want it to," the man says tauntingly.

"No, I can't…I can't do what you're asking," she says, the terror apparent in her voice.

"Understood," the man says, and slaps Jack with the hot iron again. Audrey screams in horror.

"Please, stop it!"

"You have the power to make it stop," the man says calmly, and goes to touch Jack with the iron again.

"No!" Audrey screams, causing him to pause as he awaits her answer.

"Alright, alright. I'll do whatever you want, just stop hurting him!" she pleads.

"Don't do it, Audrey…don't do it," she hears Jack yell.

His voice continues echoing in her head as the image becomes more and more blurry. In the background, a banging noise is heard.

**HOTEL ROOM - SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - 02:05:48 AM Local Time**

Audrey jumps up in bed, shaking with fear as she turns the light on.

She looks around the room and slowly accepts that it was just a nightmare, but is too shaken up to go back to sleep.

We hear the banging noise again. This time, it is clear that the noise is someone knocking on her door.

"Come in!" she yells, her voice a little shaky.

SECRET SERVICE AGENT AARON PIERCE enters the room.

"Ma'am, I'm sorry to disturb you so late, but I have your father on the phone," Pierce explains. "He says it's urgent."

Audrey sighs, exasperated.

"Do you want me to tell him you won't pick up?" Pierce asks.

"No, I'll take it. Thanks," she says with a sigh.

She takes the phone from him and waits for him to leave the room.

"Dad, you're wasting your time," she says shortly. She hears her father sigh, exasperated.

"I'm not calling to try to talk you out of speaking at the Embassy tomorrow."

"Then what's this about?" she asks impatiently.

"I need to talk to you."

"Fine, I'm listening."

"In person," he insists.

"Dad…" she protests, but he cuts her off.

"I'm on my way over to you. I'll be there in about 5 minutes," he says firmly.

She sighs, realizing he's not giving her an option.

"Audrey, I wouldn't do this unless it was really important," her father continues. "I know you're angry with me, but right now I need you to trust me. Can you do that?"

"Fine, I'll see you in five minutes," she says flatly.

"Thank you," her father says, relieved.

Audrey hangs up the phone and wipes tears from her eyes. Still shaken up from the dream, she gets up and reaches into her suitcase, where she pulls out a maroon Stanford sweatshirt and puts it on. It is way too big for her.

She gets back into bed and reaches into the front pocket of the sweatshirt, retrieving a picture of her and Jack that was taken the night before he had to disappear, right before all hell broke loose almost two years earlier. They look so happy and carefree there, with Jack standing behind Audrey on the beach in Santa Monica, his arms draped around her waist, his head buried in her neck. Audrey smiles sadly as she remembers how she had trouble getting him to stop kissing her long enough to pose for a picture. Back then, they had no idea it would be the last real time they got to spend together. They were so naive back then, believing that they had the rest of their lives.

She kisses the picture and then puts it away, curling up into a ball. She hugs the sweatshirt to her body as tears begin to fall.

**SECRET SERVICE VEHICLE - SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA**

About 6 miles from Audrey's hotel, her father hangs up the phone and sighs. It is obvious how much his daughter's anger is tearing him apart.

"Still giving you the cold shoulder, eh?" asks his aide, Scott Boren.

"Yeah, you could say that," Heller says, resigned.

"But she agreed to see you?"

"I didn't give her much of a choice."

"She'll come around eventually, sir."

"Yeah," the Vice President scoffs, not really believing it.

His cell phone rings.

"Heller here."

A SPLIT SCREEN reveals one of the men from the parking garage on the other end.

"Mission accomplished," the man says, and promptly hangs up.

**————****—****—****—****—****—****—****—COMMERCIAL BREAK———————————**

_Why is Audrey estranged from her father? What is her father up to? And what was on that piece of paper that haunted her in the prequel? Stay tuned to find out…_


	3. Episode 1 Segment 2

Vice President Heller enters Audrey's hotel cautiously. Audrey stands expectantly with her arms crossed.

"Dad," she says coolly.

Heller motions to his Secret Service detail to close the door behind him and wait outside.

"What's going on?" she asks, curious but still cold.

"Look, sweetheart, I know you're angry with me, and I don't blame you."

"Dad, please, just get to the point."

"The point is, you're angry with me because you don't know the whole story. You don't know why I did the things I did."

"Dad, it doesn't take a genius to figure it out. You let your political ambitions trump what you knew was right."

"Damn it, Audrey, just listen to me for a second! I didn't suppress your effort to have Jack's death investigated because that was a condition of my nomination to become vice president. At the time he nominated me, President Gardner didn't even know what was going on with that."

"Then why did you do it? Why did you help cover up Charles Logan's role in the terrorist attacks, and why did you make it look like Jack's death was just an accident?" she asks, tears starting to fall.

Her father looks around to make sure nobody is listening, then leans in and whispers to her, shocking her with his answer.

"What I'm about to tell you I could go to jail for repeating, so I need you to promise me that nothing I say leaves this room, no matter how angry you get."

"Okay...okay, I promise," Audrey stumbles, completely bewildered.

"Because it was the only way I could protect him."

Audrey just stands there for a second, dumbfounded.

"I...I don't understand...Jack's alive?"

Her father nods.

"That's impossible. I saw the ship..."

"You saw a ship. It wasn't Jack's ship. I instructed the Secretary of the Navy to blow up an empty ship to make everyone think it was."

"Why the hell would you do that?" Audrey asks incredulously, her tone a combination of anger and disbelief.

"Because I knew that I was never going to be able to negotiate for his freedom if anyone else knew he was alive."

"I don't understand."

"Right after you told me what happened to Jack, Charles Logan called me and told me that he knew where Jack was but would only tell me if I agreed to stay quiet about his role in the nerve gas attacks. But if I went back on my end of the deal, the Chinese had the go-ahead to kill him. In exchange for Jack's location, Logan had made them agree not to kill him without orders from a designated source, presumably someone connected to the masterminds of the nerve gas attacks."

"Why didn't you tell me? How could you keep this from me?" Audrey asks, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"I had to, sweetheart. Believe me, I think it was the hardest thing I've ever had to do, but it was the only way I could quietly negotiate with the Chinese without anyone knowing."

"So why are you telling me now?" she asks, daring to hope ever so slightly.

"Because, they're letting him go as part of the treaty. An unwritten part, but it was part of the back room negotiations. That's why I asked to play such a big role in negotiating this treaty."

Audrey struggles to comprehend.

"Oh my g-d. When? Where is he?"

"Soon...I got confirmation a few minutes ago that he was handed over to a Delta Force agent. They're going to bring him to a military station at the base here in Seoul. If all goes as planned he should be arriving within the hour."

"Is he okay?"

"As far as the agent could tell he is. He looked pretty banged up, but his heart and breathing seemed normal. They had to sedate him to make sure he wouldn't resist, so there's no word yet on how much emotional trauma he's suffered."

"When can I see him?" she asks, her voice shaky.

"Soon, soon. I'll have your Secret Service detail bring you over to the base now if you want, although if he needs any surgery then it'll be a while before they let you see him. I want you to be careful, though. Jack's been through an unthinkable ordeal, and it's not unlikely that he'll try to push you away, either out of shame and embarrassment or because he feels he's protecting you by shutting you out. You need to be prepared for that."

"I know...I understand," Audrey says unconvincingly. She knows her father is right, but in her heart she has refused to believe that Jack won't be happy to see her.

Audrey nods. "Dad, I don't know what to say. I had no idea..."

"You don't need to say anything, sweetheart. I know this is a lot for you to take in, and I don't blame you if you're angry that I kept this from you. We can talk later when you've had some time to process."

She nods, wanting to say more but unable to find the words. She wants to apologize for the way she has treated him but finds herself unable.

"Audie, do me a favor? I haven't told the president about this yet, so keep it under tight wraps for the next hour."

"You did this behind his back?" Audrey asks, dumbfounded.

"Yeah. Let's hope he agrees it was in the country's best interest," he says with a raised eyebrow, and turns to go.

"Dad?" Audrey sputters.

"Yeah?" her father asks, turning around.

"Thank you," she manages feebly. He nods and gives her a sympathetic look.

Outside the room, Agent Pierce is talking to two of Heller's Secret Service agents when his phone rings.

"This is Pierce."

The expression on his face changes suddenly to one of alarm.

"What? When? Is he okay? Can I talk to him? Alright, I'll be there as soon as I can get someone to cover my post. Thank you for letting me know."

He hangs up and dials another number.

"Todd, this is Pierce. I need someone to cover my post. My son's plane crashed near the base here in Seoul, and I'd like to get over there as soon as I can...How long will it be? There's nobody who can come sooner? Alright, thank you."

Agent Douglas, who's on Heller's detail, walks over to Aaron.

"Agent Pierce, my shift actually ended a few minutes ago. My replacement is already here...I can cover your post until someone arrives."

"Are you sure? I hate to ask..."

"Of course. It's not a problem."

"Alright. Let me just see your credentials."

Agent Douglas takes out his ID and shows it to Aaron. Aaron looks it over and nods.

"The second you notice anything suspicious, I want you to call me, alright?"

Douglas nods. "I hope everything's okay with your son," he says.

"Thank you."

Douglas waits until Aaron walks off, then looks around to make sure nobody is watching before making a phone call. "We're good to go," he says quietly into the phone.


	4. Episode 1 Segment 3

AIR FORCE ONE  
Mike Novick is explaining to the president what Heller just told Audrey.

"How long have you known about this?" Gardner asks, dumbfounded.

"A few days."

"And you thought it was okay to just keep me out of the loop?"

"Sir, it wasn't my decision. This is how the Vice President wanted to play it. He knew that if he asked for your permission to negotiate this and you said no, his daughter could have found out, and if she knew Jack was alive she would do anything and everything to try to get him free, including going public."

"Who else knows?"

"So far, nobody except the covert unit involved. James is telling his daughter now. As soon as he does that we're going to brief the directors of the appropriate agencies, but I recommend that we keep it under wraps until we talk to Jack and find out more about who was involved with his kidnapping and what they wanted from him."

Gardner sighs.

"Listen, sir, I understand that you feel betrayed, but we had to do this to protect you. You've been getting enough flack from the press as well as members of your own cabinet over your decision to go ahead with this summit despite the recent revelations about Chinese labor camps. The last thing you need is for a senior DOD official to start telling the press that you knew an American citizen was being held in a Chinese prison and didn't do anything about it. If you want me to resign, I'll resign."

"No, I don't want you to resign. But don't ever go behind my back like that again, Mike, do you understand?"

"Yes sir."

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE - ARLINGTON, VA  
_Note: With Karen's recommendation, Bill was chosen to replace Secretary Heller as Secretary of Defense when Heller was nominated for VP._

RACHEL LEVINTHAL, a special assistant to the SecDef, enters Bill Buchanan's office.

"What have you got?" Bill greets her.

"An E-310 jet crashed during testing at the base in Seoul. The pilot is in critical condition but doctors are optimistic that he'll pull through."

"I thought the E-310's had all been tested."

"Apparently not. Preliminary reports indicate that there was a problem with the rutter."

"Alright. Keep me posted. Has the pilot's family been notified?"

"Yes, sir. The pilot's father is a Secret Service agent who's in Seoul right now for the summit."

Bill looks alarmed.

"Is he on duty right now?"

"I don't know. I would assume they'd send someone in to replace him."

"Do me a favor. Find out where the father's stationed and whom they got to replace him, alright?"

"Um, sure," Rachel says, looking a little baffled.

Bill's phone rings.

"Bill Buchanan."

"Mr. Secretary, the president wants you in on a teleconference in five minutes."

"Isn't it after midnight in Seoul?"

"Yes, sir."

"Any idea what this is about?"

"No, sir. Mike Novick didn't say."

"Alright, thanks."

Rachel leaves. Bill picks up his cell phone and calls Karen at DHS.

"Karen, it's Bill. Has anything unusual happened regarding Secret Service deployments for the summit?"  
"No, why?"  
"One of the agents we have in Seoul has a son stationed at the base there, and he just got word that there was some kind of accident. I'm probably being paranoid, but I think we need to make sure it was just a coincidence."  
"Alright, I'll have someone look into it."

WAREHOUSE - Pyongyang, North Korea  
Two men are monitoring the airport in Seoul by satellite.

"Is everything on track with the plane?" one of the men asks.  
"Yes, as far as I can tell. It's scheduled to land in 20 minutes."  
"Alright. I just talked to the American. Everything is on track there too. They don't suspect anything."  
"What about the Secret Service agent?"  
"He knows not to strike too soon. But I am nervous about waiting - she knows too much."  
"She won't say anything - not yet. And by the time she does it will be too late."


	5. Episode 1, Segment 4

_Note: Thanks so much to Joe's Girl for making me realize I omitted this chapter before. The end of the episode probably makes no sense without it. Sorry about that!_

AUDREY'S HOTEL ROOM  
Audrey has changed into jeans and a sweater and is packing some clothes and food for Jack when her phone rings.

"Hello?"

"Hey, it's me," her father says on the other end.

"Dad, what's going on? Is everything okay?" she asks, slightly alarmed.

"Everything's fine. Jack is fine. But I just wanted to let you know that you're not going to be able to see him tonight."

"Why not?"

"There was some kind of an accident at the military base, so they're not going to be able to check him out until tomorrow. So I told the agent who's with him to take him to a hotel near the airport for tonight and just keep an eye open to make sure he's okay."

"Why can't he bring Jack here? I'm only 14 miles from Kimple Airport. I'll take care of him until he can be seen by a doctor."

Heller sighs.

"I thought of that, but it's too risky. He's sedated right now, and he may get violent when he wakes up because he's confused. I'm afraid he might hurt you without meaning to."  
"I can handle it. I've got Secret Service right outside my door if I need any help."

"I know you're anxious to see him, but if I were in Jack's shoes, I wouldn't want you to see me in the state he's likely to be in. I'd want to at least have a chance to get cleaned up a little first."

"Dad, you said it yourself. When he wakes up he's going to be confused and probably terrified. I want to be there to help. Otherwise he won't have anyone there he knows, anyone he can trust."

Heller sighs and considers.

"Dad, please..." Audrey begs.

"Alright, but I'm having extra Secret Service personnel sent to your location, and I want you to promise me you won't try to take matters into your own hands if he lashes out at you."

"Alright, I promise."

"You sure you're up to this?"

"Yes. Yes, I'm sure."

"Alright. Just be careful."

"I will. Thanks, Dad."

AIR FORCE ONE - EN ROUTE TO SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA  
CHRISTINA GARDNER, the president's daughter, is sitting up in bed talking to her fiance, Robert Smith. Robert is also Gardner's deputy chief of staff.

"Are you feeling better?" Robert asks. Christina nods.

"I don't want you to overreact," she says. "It was probably just something I ate."  
"What if it wasn't? How would you feel?"

Christina sighs. "Obviously for political reasons it'd be better if this happened after the wedding...but politics aside, I'd be very happy."

"Me too," Robert says with a smile. He leans over and kisses her gently.  
"You should get some sleep," he says.

"Are you coming to bed soon?"

"Probably not until we get to the hotel. But hopefully I'll have a few hours before I have to go back to work."

She nods sleepily.

"Robert, do me a favor? Until we know, don't say anything to my dad, okay?"

"I won't. Although I don't think your dad is as naive as you'd like to believe."

As if on cue, her father knocks on the door.

"Come in," she yells.

"Mind if I say goodnight to my daughter?" the president asks.

"Of course," Robert replies. "Everything you need for the teleconference is on your desk."

"Alright, thanks."

Gardner waits for Robert to leave before addressing his daughter.  
"Listen, sweetheart, it's no problem to move up the wedding if you guys need to."  
Christina turns a few shades of crimson.

"Dad..."

"Come on, you think I was born yesterday?"

"So you wouldn't be upset?"

"What, about the chance to be a grandfather? What do you think? I'm sorry to put you on the spot, but I overheard you and Robert talking earlier and I didn't want you to feel like you had to keep this from me or worry about what I was going to think."

Christina nods.

"I...I'm glad you did."

"So, have you given any thought to names? Personally, I think if it's a boy..."

"Da-ad! I don't even know if I'm pregnant yet! Don't you think this is a little premature?"

"Yeah, maybe a little," Gardner admits sheepishly. "Anyways, I'll let you get some sleep."

He kisses her forehead. "Night, Dad."

"Goodnight, sweetheart."

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE - ARLINGTON, VA  
Bill walks out of the teleconference and is approached by Rachel as he walks back to his office.

"Mr. Secretary, this is what I found on the Secret Service agent whose son was hurt."  
She hands Bill a few papers.  
"Thank you," Bill responds as he looks at the document, frowning.  
He goes into his office and makes a phone call.

"Hello?" Audrey answers.

"Audrey, it's Bill. Is everything alright there?"

"Yeah, everything's fine."

"I'm sorry to call so late. I just got the news, so I figured you'd be up."

"Yeah, I'm up. What's going on?"

"I just wanted to make sure someone came to replace Agent Pierce."

"Yeah, of course. Agent Frank Douglas...I don't know him, but he's been on my father's detail for a while. He said he's here until they send someone to take over."

"Alright. I just wanted to make sure."

"Why? Is something wrong?"

"No, I don't think so. I just wanted to check that you were okay. Between this and what's going on with Jack, it seems like a lot of coincidences."

"Why are you so worried?"

Bill sighs.

"We don't know how much information, if any, Jack gave to the Chinese when we interrogated him. I want to make sure they don't try to prevent him from telling us."  
Audrey looks nervous.

"You think they'll come after him again?"

"I don't think so, but it's possible. We have to be on alert until we know what's been compromised. I want you to let me know the second you notice anything suspicious, alright?"

"Yeah, alright."

"I don't want you to be alarmed, Audrey...just vigilante. I don't mean to scare you."

"No, it's okay. I'll let you know if I notice anything strange."

"Alright, you do that. And give Jack my best. Call me if you need anything."

"Alright, I will."

As she puts the phone down she hears a knock at her door.


	6. Episode 1, Segment 5

Audrey is standing outside the hotel room with Agent Douglas and Delta Force Agent Tom Breyer, one of the men who brought Jack to the hotel, along with two other Secret Service agents. "When can I go back in?" she asks anxiously.  
"Soon," Breyer says. "But your father wanted us to get him cleaned up a little before we let you see him...for his sake as well as yours"  
"I understand," she says anxiously. "Is he okay? How badly was he hurt"  
"He's got some nasty cuts and bruises, and a few burn patches. But it seems like the damage is mostly cosmetic...no permanent damage from what we can tell, save maybe a few scars"  
Audrey nods. She knows she should be relieved by what she just heard, but the thought of how Jack got those cuts and burns makes her sick.  
"How long are the sedatives supposed to last"  
"They should start wearing off soon. After they're done getting him cleaned up, let's see if we can't get him to go in the tub. You can get him cleaned up a little better, and the warm water might help him relax when he wakes up"  
"Alright"  
The door opens.  
"You can go back in now, ma'am," one of the other agents tells her.  
"Thank you. Thank you so much, for everything," she says to Breyer and his team.  
"Of course. We're right next door if you need anything, and your Secret Service detail is right outside"  
She takes a deep breath and runs over to the bed where Jack is still sleeping, laying down next to him and reaching under the blanket they wrapped him in to feel his heartbeat.  
He moans in pain, and she realizes that she touched a sensitive spot.  
"Oh, Jack, what did they do to you?" she whispers to herself, struggling not to cry.  
Her eyes fall upon a particularly nasty burn on his upper chest, and her mind FLASHES BACK to the scene in her nightmare where Jack was being tortured with a hot iron. She gently brushes her fingers over the burn, tears brimming in her eyes.  
"I'm so sorry, Jack," she whispers softly.

**INT. CAR - WASHINGTON, DC**

"I left CTU because I'd had enough. Two of my best friends died in the same day as a result of their work with CTU, and I couldn't stand being there after that. I thought it was time for a change of pace," Chloe explains.  
"I'd leave out that last bit," Morris advises. "You don't want to seem like you're going to find work at the Department of Labor boring"  
"Yeah, you're right. Even though I probably will. But I guess I shouldn't say that in an interview"  
"Nah, I wouldn't recommend it. Of course, how could they resist a beautiful woman like you no matter what you say"  
Chloe rolls her eyes but can't help but smile a little.  
"I really appreciate your coming with me," Chloe says to Morris as he drives her to an interview.  
"Of course, love. You know, I enjoyed staying together last night"  
"Me too, but I'm not ready to move back in together yet. I thought we agreed to take things slow"  
"Of course, dear. It just seems kind of odd, given that we used to be married"  
"Let's just give it a little more time, okay"  
"Alright, love. So, shall we practice one more time"  
"Sure, why not"

**AUDREY'S HOTEL ROOM - 02:35:04 Local Time**

"Come on, that's it," Audrey coaxes as she guides Jack into the tub. She unwraps the blanket from his shoulders and gently eases him down into the warm water. When a cut on his stomach hits the water he jerks in pain and starts to come to, fighting to get out of the water and getting Audrey all wet in the process. She holds his shoulders down to prevent him from getting out of the tub, whispering soothingly in hopes of calming him down.  
Jack feels around and suddenly jumps and tries to cover himself with his hands, feeling exposed.  
Audrey gently squeezes his shoulders.  
"Jack, it's okay, it's me," she says softly.  
He opens his eyes looking terrified, but panic turns to confusion and disbelief when he sees her.  
"Audrey?" he asks tentatively.  
"Yeah, it's me, Jack...you're okay now. Everything's going to be okay," she promises, stroking his hair soothingly.  
He reaches up and tentatively touches her shoulder, outlining her features with his hand and gently pulling on her hair to confirm that this is real and not another dream.  
He sits up a little more and gently touches her cheek, still in disbelief. She leans forward and kisses him softly, trying to help him believe that this is real. He wraps his arm around her neck and deepens the kiss, still struggling to believe this isn't a dream. He eventually pulls away and stares into her eyes for a moment, silently willing her not to fade away.  
"I'm here, Jack," she says softly.  
"Don't go," he pleads. She grips his hands firmly and looks him in the eye.  
"I'm not going anywhere, I promise"  
She kisses him gently on the lips, as if to emphasize her point.  
"Are you okay?" she asks softly, gently tracing a scar on his chin with her fingers.  
"Yeah," he whispers.  
"I...I don't understand," he says, beginning to believe that this is real but totally confused as to how it came to be.  
"My father was able to make a deal to secure your freedom," she explains, hoping he will just accept that but knowing that's not going to happen.  
"What kind of a deal?" he asks, alarmed.  
"It was an unwritten part of this treaty they're about to sign...he wouldn't tell me the details. I just found out a little while ago. I didn't even know you were alive before that. I'll see what I can find out when I talk to him later. But it doesn't matter right now...all that matters is that you're safe. It's all over, I promise"  
Jack looks unsatisfied, not ready to let it go. Audrey sighs, knowing that he wants to know what was traded for his freedom and is going to have a hard time putting it out of his mind until he finds out.  
"Jack, I promise, we can find out the details later. But first things first, okay? We've got to get you taken care of. Are you in any pain"  
He shakes his head. She gives him a meaningful look saying "I'm not buying it"  
"Nothing I can't handle," he says with a shrug. He looks around and sees the water he splashed all over the bathroom.  
"Oh g-d. I didn't...I didn't hurt you while I was asleep, did I?" he asks nervously.  
"No, you just got me a little wet," she says with a grin.  
"Sorry," he says sheepishly. He becomes mesmerized as she removes the wet sweater, revealing a low-cut black bra.  
"G-d, you're a sight for sore eyes," he says softly. "You're even more beautiful than I remembered"  
She smiles and kisses him softly on the head, draping her arms down his chest. She cringes as she comes across a nasty burn near his shoulder.  
"Hey, it's okay. That one doesn't hurt anymore," Jack tries to reassure her.  
"Oh, g-d, Jack, I can't stand the thought of what they must have done to you..." she says, her voice trailing off as her eyes well up with tears. Jack wipes a tear away and strokes her cheek gently.  
"Please, don't think about it," he pleads. "I'm okay...I'm here and you're here with me now and that's all that matters, okay"  
Audrey nods slowly, tears streaming down her cheeks. Jack pulls her hand up to his cheek and turns around to look her in the eye.  
"I'm just so glad you're here," he whispers, his voice beginning to crack.  
"Me too," she whispers softly.  
She smiles slightly and kisses him on the lips. "Come on, just try and relax," she says soothingly as she grabs some soap and starts washing him. He moans, this time with pleasure, closing his eyes and taking in the feeling of her soft hands on his skin. During his time in China, he got through the interrogations by imagining her touching him wherever they were hurting him, remembering how good she felt against him, how good her hands felt on his skin. He's still not entirely convinced that this isn't another dream, but he's determined to enjoy it whatever it is.

_Author's Note: I promise, there is more substance...this is not just going to turn into J/A fluff (although I whole-heartedly encourage people to write stories of that type). More to come soon, I hope. _


	7. Episode 1, Segment 6

_I realized that I forgot a chapter, so please read chapter 5 (Episode 1, Segment 4) before reading this, or the end won't make sense. Thanks so much to Joe's Girl for making me realize it!_

"Mmm...don't you look handsome?" Audrey says with a grin as Jack comes out of the bathroom after he finishes shaving. Jack smiles self-consciously.

"I brought some clothes for you. Let me get them," Audrey says, reaching into her suitcase and retrieving the brown sweatshirt, a t-shirt and a pair of flannel pants, as well as another shirt for herself to replace the one Jack splashed water all over.

"I thought you didn't even know I was alive until about an hour ago."

"I didn't. I sleep in your clothes every night...it's the only way I can get to sleep," she says softly.

Jack smiles sadly as she tosses him the clothes.

"I'm so sorry," he says regretfully.

"For what?"

"For breaking my promise when I said I'd be right back. For putting you through so much anguish. For showing up after being dead for a year and a half only to disappear again."

Audrey looks at him like he's crazy, then walks over to him and places her hand on his cheek.

"Jack, there is nothing you could have done," she says firmly.

"Yeah, I know. I just hate that I had to leave you again. I can't even imagine how hard it must have been for you."

She strokes his cheek gently.

"All that matters is that you're here now, and you're safe." She leans up and kisses him on the lips. He kisses her back and then turns to go into the bathroom.

"Where are you going?"

"I'll be right back. I'm...I'm just going to go get changed."

"In there?" she questions with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, just give me a sec," he says awkwardly.

"When did you get all shy on me?" she teases. She knows he probably doesn't want her to see the scars she has already seen before he woke up but hopes that making light of it will make it a little easier for him to open up.

"I didn't...I just...it looks worse than it is and I don't want to upset you."

She pulls on his arm until he turns around.

"Jack, listen to me. I already got a pretty good view before when I helped you get in the tub. And if you think I'm any less attracted to you now then I was the last time we were in a hotel together then you're crazy," she says, a hint of mischief in her voice. Jack can't help but smile, thinking back to that night almost two years earlier.

"Please don't push me away, Jack," she pleads in a more serious tone. "Please don't shield me."

Jack slowly nods. She pulls gently at the side of his bathrobe, waiting for him to give her a silent okay before sliding it off his shoulders. He blushes as she runs her hands over his body and kisses his chest, silently telling him that his scars don't change the way she feels about him.

She leans in and whispers seductively in his ear.

"If Secret Service weren't listening in for any sign of you giving me trouble tonight..."

Jack looks confused.

"How come Secret Service is here? Did the president assign you a detail because he thought you might be a target?"

She looks bewildered for a second, then realizes why he's confused. "I...I guess nobody told you...my father's the vice president now. And Bill took his job as Secretary of Defense," she explains as she hands him a t-shirt.

"Oh wow...I had no idea...congratulations."

"Thanks," Audrey says listlessly as she pulls a green sweater over her head.

"What's wrong?"

"I've been horrible to my father the past few months," she admits. "I thought he pushed everything under the rug to advance his political career. I had no idea that he was doing it to..."

Audrey stops, realizing what she was going to say will only make him feel worse.

"To what?"

No answer.

"Audrey, to do what?"

"To protect you."

"What do you mean?"

"He said that Logan's men tipped off the Chinese...in exchange the Chinese agreed not to kill you unless they sanctioned it."

"And they were going to sanction it if your father said anything about Logan's role in the attacks."

Audrey sighs, not wanting to tell him the truth because she knows it will hurt him. "Yeah," she admits.

He sighs with frustration and anguish, feeling that everything they went through two months ago was for nothing.

"Jack, we still achieved what was important," she says reassuringly. "Logan still paid a price."

She squeezes his hand and looks into his eyes reassuringly, trying to ease this latest blow. "Getting you back safely was all that mattered to me, Jack...I wouldn't have it any other way."Jack nods, reluctantly accepting what she has to say.

"So are you still working at DOD?" he asks, trying hard to let it go.

"Sort of. I'm on leave right now."

"How come?"

"Before I knew that your release was part of this treaty I was angry about it...I didn't think we should give China a free pass for what they did to you, not to mention its human rights violations and unfair trade practices. Federal employees aren't allowed to make public political statements, so I had to take a leave of absence."

Audrey's phone rings.

"Audrey Raines," she answers.

"Audrey, it's Bill. I'm sorry to bother you again, but Rachel's having a little bit of a problem accessing your files. Did you put an extra level of encryption on the test reports for the E-310's?"

Audrey becomes a little flustered.

"Um, yeah, um...I might have...let me think for a sec...tell her to try g8r838h7i."

"Alright, thanks. I'll tell Rachel. I'm sorry to bother you with this while you're on leave, but we need to figure out why one of them crashed this morning."

"One of them crashed?"

"I thought you knew about it. Agent Pierce's son was flying the plane."

"Oh, yeah, I...I didn't realize it was an E-310. I thought those had all been tested and cleared for release."

"They have. That's why we need to figure out what went wrong."

"Uh...alright, well, let me know if you need any more information."

Someone knocks on Audrey's door. Jack opens it and is greeted by a room service delivery man.

Audrey mouths to Jack to charge it to the room. Jack nods and signs a piece of paper.

Agent Douglas comes down the hall from his post at the elevator.

"Did you order room service?" he asks Jack.

"Yeah, Audrey did."

"Alright. I'm going to need to check this before she can eat it. It'll just take a minute."

Audrey holds the phone to her cheek for a second to talk to Jack.

"Jack, it's okay...it's standard procedure when I go overseas. I forgot to give Secret Service a heads up."

"Is Jack there with you? How's he doing?" Bill asks Audrey.

"He's doing okay, I think. I think it's still sinking in for both of us.""Alright, let me know if there's anything I can do for him."  
"Thanks, Bill."

"Of course."

She hangs up the phone looking troubled as Jack answers the door again and Agent Douglas gives him the tray of food.

"This is what you ordered, right?" he asks her.

"Yeah, I figured you might be hungry."

"Thank you."

"Of course."

They sit down and Jack starts eating. Audrey picks at her food a little bit.

"Aren't you hungry too?" he asks, noticing that she's hasn't eaten any of her salad while he devoured half of his sandwich.

"Jack, there's something I need to tell you," she says nervously.

"What's wrong?" he asks, a little alarmed.

"I...I...I don't think what happened to Agent Pierce's son was an accident."

"What?" Jack asks, confused.

"Ss...someone unauthorized had access to a schematic of the plane...I think they might be trying to sabotage our deal to sell them to the Chinese."

"Who?"

"I...I don't know."

"How do you know this? Did you overhear something?" Jack asks nervously, silently willing her to say yes. She contemplates for a second, then shakes her head nervously, looking away and fighting back tears. She knows what she has to say is going to kill him, but she knows she doesn't have a choice.

"They...they said they were going to kill you if I didn't cooperate," she says tearfully, unable to look him in the eye.

Jack buries his head in his hands, his heart sinking as her words sink in.

**AIR FORCE ONE**  
Christina is half-sleeping when Robert pokes his head in.

"Are we almost there?" she asks him sleepily.

"I'm afraid not. Secret Service got word that there may be a problem at ICN, so we're being rerouted to SEL."

"What kind of a problem?"

"I don't know. Probably just Secret Service being paranoid. We should be on the ground in about another hour."

Christina groans as Robert comes over and kisses her forehead.

"I have to go check in with DOD...I'll come back in and check on you in a little bit."

Christina nods and gives him a quick kiss.

After Robert leaves the room, she pulls out a blackberry from under the covers and types a message:

**"Plane being rerouted to SEL."**

GRAHAM sees Christina's message relayed on his screen.

**02:00 PM EST/03:00 AM Korean Time**

_Author's Note: I wrote this before the big revelation about Graham in last week's episode (I don't think that gives much away for those who haven't seen it). I have not decided yet whether that is going to be applicable to my story. Basically, everything after 5x24 didn't happen in this fic, although I may work in some of the season 6 plot eventually. But for now it's safe for UK and other viewers, and I'd like to keep it that way, so please don't post season 6 spoilers in the reviews (PM's are fine). But please do post reviews!_


	8. Episode 2, Segment 1

**AUDREY'S HOTEL ROOM**

Audrey is explaining to Jack how she was contacted by his captors.

"The woman was giving out what looked like a pamphlet about Chinese human rights abuses...but then when I opened it up a little piece of paper fell out. It showed…" she pauses for a moment and tries to keep from breaking down. "It showed you tied up and it said to call this number within 20 minutes or they were going to kill you," she says, fighting back tears.

"Do you have the note with you?" Jack asks.

"Yeah, um, give me a sec…I sewed it to the inside of my jacket so nobody would find it. I also made a recording of one of our conversations…maybe DOD can use it to do a voice ID."

"Audrey, you realize that could implicate you?"

"Yeah, I know. I understand. But it may be the only way we can figure out who's behind all of this. Jack, I know what I did was dangerous, and one person's already been hurt because of it. I want to give DOD whatever information I have right away before anyone else gets hurt."

Jack sighs, knowing she is right but unwilling to let her risk incriminating herself.

"Jack, I promised myself I'd come forward as soon as I had you back and I knew you were okay. I'm prepared to live with the consequences of what I did, and I don't expect any special treatment."

Jack takes a deep breath and considers for a moment.

"Alright, I'll call Bill and see if he can get your information processed without sourcing it. But I don't want you to say anything or give them any evidence that could incriminate you until we talk to your father. I'm happy to call him, but he might take it better if you tell him yourself."

Audrey buries her head in her hands and starts crying.

"He's going to kill me," she whispers softly.

Jack wraps his arm around her.

"No he's not. He may be angry, but at the end of the day I think he'll understand. He's been in the same position, remember?"

She shakes her head.

"He signed a meaningless piece of paper. He didn't compromise national security…he wouldn't do that, not even if my brother or I were in danger."

"I don't believe that," Jack says softly.

"I've been so horrible to him the past few months, Jack. I wanted to distance myself from him so that if anyone ever found out what I was doing it would be easier for people to believe that he wasn't involved, that he had no idea what I was doing. So I blamed him for your disappearance…I told him that I hated him…"

"Listen, Kim said some pretty harsh things to me the last time I saw her. Do you think I love her any less because of it? Do you think I wouldn't go through fire and water for her no matter what? Your father loves you, and he's not going to stop loving you because of this."

Jack pauses for a moment as he lifts her head up and turns it so that she is facing him. "And neither will I," he says firmly, staring deep into her eyes.

Audrey takes a second to process, studying his face for reassurance. She is prepared to be detained and interrogated and even imprisoned, she is even somewhat prepared for her father's reaction, but the one thing she couldn't handle was if Jack couldn't forgive her for what she did. "I love you…so much," she says tearfully, clinging to his shoulders.

"I love you too, and nothing's going to change that," Jack reassures her. "No matter what you said or did, it's not going to change how I feel about you."

Jack wraps his arms around her and pulls her close. "Come here," he whispers.

"If the tables were turned and I had to watch anyone hurt you, I don't think I could have lasted two seconds," he whispers in her ear, hoping to ease her guilt a little.

He holds her as tightly as he can without hurting her, wanting to make her feel secure, knowing how scared and alone she must have felt since she was first threatened by his captors. "Go on, just let it out," he encourages, stroking her hair as she begins to sob harder, letting out all the anguish she's felt since the day he was captured.

"It's alright. I'm here. You're not alone anymore," he coaxes. "You don't need to be afraid anymore. It's all over...it's going to be okay," he reassures her as she continues to sob.

They stay like that for a minute, until Audrey pulls back a little and wipes her eyes, determined not to let her emotions take her off course.

"I guess...putting it off isn't going to make this any easier. Let me get this over with."

Jack smiles sympathetically.

"Do you want me to sit with you while you call?"

"No, um, that's okay…you need to go call Bill. My father actually rented the room next door for us too, in case you needed some space when you woke up, so I'll go in there and call him."

"No, you stay here. I'll go next door. I don't think the other room's been cleared by Secret Service."

Audrey nods and can't help but smile slightly at his overprotectiveness.

He kisses her forehead and grips her hand reassuringly before getting up to make the call.

**AIR FORCE ONE**

Robert is on the phone with a defense contractor. "I understand that, but we can't sell these planes to the Chinese until we know that all the kinks have been worked out."

"They've already been through all of the testing procedures," the contractor argues. "I'm going to have a hard time making the case to corporate for spending millions of dollars on additional tests because of one bad apple."

"Well, you can tell them that you stand to lose billions of dollars in future contracts if we can't be confident that you'll do the job right!" Robert yells, exasperated.

He slams down the phone and storms into the president's office.

"Boeing's giving us a hard time about retesting the planes. Says they've already been through all phases of testing and had been certified as having all the kinks worked out a while ago."

The president sighs.

"Have the Chinese been informed that there may be a delay?"

"Not yet. Mike didn't think it was worth waking up the Defense Minister."

"Yeah, he's probably right. Anything else?"

"Yeah. Bill Buchanan asked if we could put two additional Secret Service agents on Audrey Raines' detail. He's concerned that Jack's presence might call attention to her."

"Alright, call Treasury and tell them I approved this."

"Yes, sir."

**AUDREY'S HOTEL – ROOM NEXT DOOR**

Jack is pacing around the room talking to Bill on the phone.

"I don't understand. If she doesn't want immunity what does she want?"

"She wants to tell us what she knows and have your people get to work processing it before anyone else gets hurt."

"But she understands that the recording could incriminate her?"

Jack sighs. "Yeah, she understands. I told her I didn't want her giving up any information until she has immunity, but she won't listen to me."

"Does her father know?" Bill asks.

"She's calling him now, I think. She's terrified of his reaction, so she may need a little more coaxing. But regardless of how he reacts or decides he wants to handle it, I think it might be best if you take it to the president now and see what you can work out."

"Alright. I don't know how he'll react, but I'll see what I can do for her. Hopefully he'll agree that it's in everyone's best interest to grant her immunity."

"Thank you, Bill."

"Of course."

"Can you get your people to start working this up without sourcing it?"

"I can put any information she has in the subnet, but I don't see how we can run the recording against through the voice match without identifying her."

"Put Chloe on it. She can either isolate the other guy's voice or scramble Audrey's."

"Jack, Chloe doesn't work for me anymore. She doesn't work for the government right now at all."

"Why not?"

"She left CTU shortly after you disappeared and we thought you'd been killed. Losing you and Edgar in one day was just too much for her."

Jack sighs, a combination of guilt and exasperation. "Is there any way you can get her to help you out, just for a few hours?"

"I don't know. I can try calling her."

"Why don't you let me do it?"

"Jack, she doesn't even know you're alive yet."

"I know. But I think she'll have a hard time saying no if I ask her myself."

"Alright, let me see if I can get a hold of her and I'll put you in touch."

"Thanks."

Jack hangs up and knocks on the door that adjoins his room to Audrey's.

No response.

"Audrey?" he asks as he slowly opens the door, concerned.

His concern turns to panic when he opens the door and sees her lying unconscious on the bed. He becomes horrified when he sees an empty bottle of vodka on the floor.

Jack runs over to Audrey and starts shaking her.

"Audrey, can you hear me?"

No response.

"Come on. Just open your eyes for me, okay?"

Still no response.

Jack feels for a pulse, and is relieved to see that she is still breathing, albeit more slowly than usual. He turns her over and puts her in the "recovery position" with her head turned to the side.

"Stay with me," he pleads with her, gripping her hand for a moment before running over to the nightstand and grabbing her panic button.

Agents Pryor and Douglas come running into the room.

"What's going on?"

"I…I don't know…I went into the other room for five minutes to make a phone call. I don't see how that could be enough time for alcohol to have this kind of effect."

"Unless it was used in conjunction with something else," Agent Pryor says.

"What are you talking about?" Jack demands.

Agent Pryor retrieves an empty pill bottle he finds under one of the pillows. Jack looks at it and becomes even more frantic.

"We need to get her to a hospital now," he demands, his heart racing as he picks Audrey up and begins to carry her toward the door.


	9. Episode 2, Segment 2

**SECRET SERVICE VEHICLE - SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - 03:11:05 AM**

Jack is sitting in the back of the limo, holding Audrey in his lap and talking to her father on the phone.

"Is she breathing?" Heller demands.

"Yes, sir. Her breathing's a little erratic but it hasn't stopped."

"Is she awake? Can I talk to her?"

"No, sir...she's still unconscious...but you're welcome to try talking to her if you want. But I've been talking to her since we got in the car and she hasn't responded."

"I don't understand...how the hell did this happen?"

Jack leans forward to talk to the Secret Service agents up front.

"Can you put the window up please? I need to speak to the Vice President privately."

He waits until the window goes up, then holds the phone close and speaks quietly.

"Sir, a few weeks after I was taken, Audrey got a call from someone connected to the people holding me...they showed her a video feed of me being interrogated and threatened to kill me if she didn't do what they wanted."

"What did they want?"

"Schematics of the E-310's, for one. I think there was more but we didn't get that far."

"You're telling me that my daughter's been passing classified information to terrorists?"

"We don't know who she gave the information to, sir, or what their motives were. She doesn't know either. She made a recording of one of the conversations, so we're going to use that to try to identify the man. She was supposed to call you to tell you what was going on while I talked to Bill Buchanan, but when I came back into the room she was unconscious and there was an empty bottle of vodka and a bottle of prescription sleeping pills next to her."

"Are you telling me she was trying to kill herself?"

"It looks that way, sir."

"Oh my g-d...is she going to make it?"

"I...I don't know, sir," Jack says shakily. "If she drank the entire bottle, her blood alcohol level would have to be at least 0.5, and I have no idea how many pills she took on top of that."

"How the hell is she still breathing?"

"I don't know. I've been wondering the same thing myself. I've been checking every couple minutes."

"Listen, I'm on my way to the hospital now, but you're probably going to get there first. When you get there, I don't want you to let Audrey out of your sight no matter what."

"Understood."

"Keep talking to her, Jack. She may be able to hear more than you think. Just keep reassuring her...and tell her how much I love her," the vice president pleads.

"I will, sir, I promise."

"Jack, take care of her for me, please. Don't let her slip away before I get to her," Heller begs, his voice choking up.

"I'll do everything I can, sir, I promise," Jack says, struggling to hold it together.

"I know you will, Jack," he says softly, acknowledging that this must be as hard for Jack as it is for him.

Jack hangs up the phone and pulls Audrey's head to his chest, checking that she is still breathing, then whispers softly in her ear.

"I don't know if you caught any of that, but I talked to your father and I told him everything. He wasn't angry or ashamed...he just wants you to know how much he loves you."

No response. Jack notices that her skin is pale and bluish. He picks up the phone and calls up to the Secret Service agents in the front.

"Do you have a coat or a blanket I can wrap around her? Her body temperature feels like it may have dropped a little bit."

"I'll pass you my coat," Agent Pryor responds.

"Thank you."

The window rolls down and Jack reaches forward and accepts the coat. He wraps it around Audrey and rubs her shoulders to try to warm her up, kissing the top of her head and whispering to her in a reassuring tone.

**DEPARTMENT OF LABOR - WASHINGTON, DC - 02:12:58 PM Local Time**

Chloe is wrapping up her interview when she feels her phone vibrate. She ignores it and proceeds to shake the woman's hand.

"Thank you for coming in today, Ms. O'Brien," the woman says cheerily. "We should have a decision for you within the next couple weeks."

"Thank you very much for your time," Chloe says politely. She gets into an elevator and glances at her phone. The missed call is from a number she does not recognize.

When she gets out of the elevator, she texts Morris to let him know she is ready to be picked up, then calls in for her voicemail. She is surprised to hear a message from Bill.

"Chloe, it's Bill. I need you to call me at 202-555-8838. I can't go into details over the phone but it's very important. Please call me back as soon as you can."

Chloe looks puzzled as she replays the message to check the phone number.

**DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE - ARLINGTON, VA**

Bill is on the phone with Jack, who is still in the Secret Service vehicle en route to the hospital.

"You're saying this all happened while we were on the phone earlier?"

"Yeah. I came back into the room and she was unconscious."

"Do you have any idea how many pills she took?"

"No. Bill, can you do me a favor? Can you find out if chest tightness or rapid pulse are usually associated with alcohol poisoning or a side effect of Sonata?"

"I would think not. Both of those substances are depressants...if anything they should be slowing her heart down."

"That's what I thought."

"I'll look into it."

"Thank you, Bill. Did you speak to the president?"

"Yes. He agreed to give Audrey full immunity provided that she tells us everything she knows and doesn't withhold any information."

"Thank you for doing that."

"Of course."

"Jack, Chloe's on the other line. How do you want to handle this?"

"Just patch her through."

"Do you want me to explain things first?"

"No. Not if she's on a personal cell. I'm just going to ask her to come in and you can explain everything in person."

"Alright. Hold on a second."

Bill pushes a button and switches to Chloe.

"Chloe, thanks for getting back to me so quickly."

"What's going on?" Chloe asks.

"I'll explain everything in a second...just hang on."

He pushes another button to connect Jack and Chloe.

"Hello?" Chloe says, confused.

"Chloe, it's Jack."

Chloe recoils, a completely bewildered look on her face.

"What? Is this some kind of a joke? Because it's not very funny."

"It's not a joke. If I understand correctly the Vice President had an empty ship blown up to make it look like I was dead...I don't have time to explain all the details."

"Oh my g-d...I'm glad you're okay. I mean, maybe you're not _okay_...I don't even want to think about what you must have been through...but I'm glad you're alive, at least."

"Thanks," Jack says. He can't help but be slightly amused at Chloe's lack of eloquence.

"Listen, I hate to ask, but I need your help."

"What do you need?"

"Are you on a personal cell?"

"Yeah."

"Then I can't explain over the phone. I need you to go help Bill at DOD...he'll tell you everything."

"Jack, I want to help you, but I can't go back to that...that world."

"Chloe, I'm not asking you to go back to anything. I just need you to help me out for a little while today. I wouldn't ask you if it wasn't important."

"One day is all it takes to ensure that I never get another job with the federal government or probably anywhere else."

"What are you talking about?"

"I've been having trouble since I left CTU because every prospective employer has had access to my long list of arrests and protocol violations...every time I try to help you I get into trouble."

Jack sighs, feeling guilty.

"Chloe, I'm really sorry...you know the last thing I wanted to do was put you in that position. But I'm not asking you to do anything illegal or against the rules."

"Not yet, but you will be. I give it two hours before you get frustrated that something's going too slow and need me to hack into some satellite I don't have access to."

"Chloe, please, just go to DOD and talk to Bill...see what we need you to do, and then you can decide if you want to help, alright?"

"Fine, I guess that's the least I can do."

"Thanks, Chloe. I don't think I need to tell you how much I appreciate this."

"I wouldn't do it for anyone else."

"I know. Thank you," Jack says sincerely.

"You're welcome," she says grudgingly.

Jack hangs up the phone and shakes Audrey a little bit, as if somehow that will wake her up. He checks that she is still breathing, then hits a button to roll down the divider so he can talk to the Secret Service agents up front.

"What's our ETA?"

"Less than ten minutes," Agent Pryor calls back to him.

Jack wraps his arms around Audrey and whispers in her ear. "You hear that? We're less than ten minutes out...we're going to get you help soon. You've got to stay with me for a little longer."

He tightens his grip around her and clings to her desperately as tears start to roll down his face.

"You've got to stay with me," he repeats, his voice more shaky the second time around. "When I was in China, the only thing that kept me going was knowing you were out there...I can't lose you now, baby...I can't lose you again. Please don't leave me, please," he begs, breaking down in sobs as he holds her against his chest, keeping a hand over her heart to make sure it's still beating.


End file.
